Remapping the Illegitimate Border (Countering the Legacy of the War of 1812 and the Treaty of Ghent), an installation piece by artist Dylan Miner in collaboration with Indigenous and Latino Youth of Waawayeyaattanong, the Autonomous Windsor-Detroit Borderlands, at the Art Gallery of Windsor during the Border Cultures: Part One (homes, land) exhibition. (Photo: Frank Piccolo)

Itah Sadu from A Different Booklist, an independent bookstore and literary cultural destination in Toronto, receives the 2016 Premier's Award for Excellence in the Arts (Arts Organization Award). (Photo: Sonia Cacoilo)

Indigenous Culture Fund: Small Grants

Purpose

This program supports status and non-status First Nations, Inuit and Métis community, culture and way-of-life projects in Ontario. These grants are for short-term projects. Applications are reviewed with a quick turnaround time. Ontario-based Indigenous organizations, groups and individuals are eligible. First-time applicants, youth and Elders are encouraged to apply. There are five funding categories:

Community/Culture/Way of Life: for projects, events or activities. Examples:

Organizing a cultural camp where Elders, language speakers and knowledge keepers take youth out on the land and share their teachings.

Hosting a gathering where traditional medicines and harvesting teachings are shared with community members.

Exploring how technology and contemporary culture intersect with traditional ideas and approaches.

Band councils, tribal councils, Métis community councils and provincial organizations.

Applicants must work or operate in Ontario and have a permanent physical address in Ontario.

Important

Applicants are eligible to receive up to two ICF project grants in a year, provided each grant is for a different activity. The limit of two per year is based on the date of the application deadline, not on the date the grant payment is received.

Applicants are eligible to receive ICF grants in addition to other OAC project or operating grants. However, the same activities cannot be funded by both OAC and ICF.

This program does not fund

Arts presentations or exhibitions that do not involve or engage the community in the creation (See OAC’s Indigenous Arts Projects).

Ongoing organizational operating costs.

Purchase of land or real estate.

Activity timing

The activity for which you are requesting funding:

Cannot start before the date your application is submitted.

Cannot finish before you receive your grant results.

Must be completed no more than one year after you receive the grant results.

Important: You are not eligible to apply to any OAC program, including ICF, if you have an overdue or unapproved final report in any OAC grant program as of the deadline. You may have an outstanding final report for a project that is not yet completed.

Final report requirements

If you receive a grant you must submit a final report upon completion of the project. A final report form will be available in Nova. Final reports for this program require grant recipients to provide:

Description of the project undertaken and its outcomes, including details on any minor or approved changes to what had been outlined in the application.

Description of how grant funds were spent.

Visual documentation of the project such as pictures or video clips (optional).

Visual documentation and/or an written explanation of how you acknowledged, or will acknowledge, ICF support for your project, if applicable.

To apply

OAC is committed to having an accessible application process. OAC can, if needed, provide an alternate form or process to submit an application. See the Inclusive Application Process Policy. Oral applications may be accepted from Indigenous individual applicants.

For more than 50 years, the Ontario Arts Council (OAC) has played a vital role in promoting and assisting the development of the arts for the enjoyment and benefit of Ontarians. In 2016-17, OAC funded 1,657 individual artists and 1,098 organizations in 212 communities across Ontario for a total of $50.8 million.